The Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280RGB is an All-In-One CPU cooler for advanced users who wish to have performance and RGB look at the same time. Arctic delivers a very good and solid product, everything to get started is included in the retail package, and fans and power/RGB cables have been pre-installed to help you out with installation time. The product has won many awards and now we understand why this happened, it has the looks and of course the performance.

The Liquid Freezer II series comes in various dimensions starting from 120/240/280/360/420mm radiator size and corresponding fans. Installation is OK, even though we had to see some instructions as Artic doesn't label their screws/mounting plates for either Intel or AMD and so it takes some time to understand what has to be where and get started. Of course, this happens only the first time, after that point you won't need to look at again manuals. The retail package also is included an RGB controller/splitter that can help you in case you need it, a nice bonus if you ask me.

In our testing motherboard, the mounting plates were very close to the motherboard's CPU VRMs and we saw that Arctic has listed several motherboards that are in-compatible so it's better to email support and ask them, even v3 should have solved most issues. There is a lot of empty space around the CPU area, so big-sized memory modules are not a problem. Also, the included 40mm VRM fan, in theory, should provide extra cooling, even couldn't get this measured. On the bright side, you can disable this fan if you like so, under the base there is a small switch.

Passing to the performance area, the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280RGB provide to be a good performer with normal loads and voltages, since manages to get AMD 5600X under 60 Celsius under 1.10V, with the lowest measured noise levels. Getting into the overclocking area, the product performed OK, even cannot reach the performance that very big-sized air coolers can deliver, obviously if you are passioned about overclocking the 360mm or even the 420mm variations will be your obvious solution.

Overall, the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280RGB is a top product, comes at a very competitive price of 127 Euro, and has 6 years warranty which is a big bonus if you ask me...

The Good:

+ Complete retail package
+ Includes two 140mm RGB fans and 4-way ARGB-Hub
+ CPU base also includes a 40mm fan to help out with VRM cooling!
+ Supports many Intel / AMD sockets
+ Includes refill port and coolant
+ Great performance compared to AMD stock cooler
+ Best (lowest) noise levels compared with Air Coolers
+ Great price compared with other competitors
+ 6 years of warranty
+ 450mm long tubes making radiator installation placement very easy

Neutral:

- Included screws / mounting parts could be labeled more properly to help us with installation process
- Due to its design check Arctic's website for supported motherboards
- Perhaps we would like RGB also in the CPU area

The bad

- None...